Slowly Valli walked over to the shop. His helper walked behind him, carrying the stool. The coolie, Ayyappan, was standing at the shop as well, his left hand over some soda bottles stacked up to one side and his right hand over his mouth, hiding his laughter.

“What brings you here, annachi?” Dhamu asked.

Valli was distracted by coolie Ayyappan, who had turned his face away toward the store and was howling with laughter. What was up with him? Focusing on Dhamu again, Valli said: “I am here for the auction?”

“Ah, the auction,” Dhamu said. “How much do you think it will fetch this time?”

“Forty-five rupees, by my estimate.”

“What? The price has gone up?”

“Yes! Excellent harvest this year, isn’t it?”

At this point, coolie Ayyappan doubled over with laughter and quickly slipped out of sight. They heard him bursting with laughter. “Dei! What’s so funny? Is someone dancing naked over here?” Valli shouted at him in anger. His hand still covering his mouth, Ayyappan ran toward the entrance to the municipal park. Valli grew red with rage.

“Annachi, don’t be angry,” said Dhamu.

“No. I have been watching him for a while now. He has a stupid grin all the time. Every time I look at his face, I feel like slapping him. One of these days I am going to catch hold of him. Then he will know. Idiot!”

“You can yell at him later. Look at the tree first,” Dhamu said.

Before Valli could look, his helper gasped: “There is not a single pod on the tree!”

Valli simply stared at the tree. “What happened to all the tamarind pods?” he asked quietly.

Dhamu didn’t answer.

“I am asking you, what happened to all the pods on the tree?”

“Well, there is a police station just two furlongs from here,” Dhamu said, with a look of indifference.

“Dhamu, I know you very well.”

“Annachi, I know you too.”

“Fine. We’ll see.”

“We’ll see.”

Valli stormed off.

“I saw him standing around, looking confused. So I called him over to let him know. And he attacks me!” Dhamu said to the customer who came for some betel.

As Valli and the helper passed the clock tower, they heard someone clapping their hands and calling out to them, so they turned to see who it was. There, in front of Lala Sweet Shop, stood Moopanar and Sahib, the latter wearing a towel so long it grazed the ground, a tamarind-leaf design on its border. Valli panicked. “Just keep walking behind me. Don’t look back,” he ordered his helper, and they quickened their pace.

They managed to escape Moopanar and Sahib, but just as they were passing Ananda Bhavan Hotel, they heard someone else shout, “Son-in-law, over here!” It was Moothapillai, sitting in his carriage. He was holding a tumbler in his right hand; Nagaru Pillai was standing outside the carriage and pouring coffee from a bowl into the tumbler.